


Dad Troubles

by tptigger



Category: Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: Gen, James Navarro is a Deadbeat Dad and Tyler isn't taking it today, he promptly exits the story, never be the only dad in the room when the caveman has questions, warning: frank discussion of sexuality and reproduction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 04:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10153793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: James gets it in his head to give Tyler The Talk, but it's Koda who has questions.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PockySquirrel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PockySquirrel/gifts).



> This began as Pockysquirrel posting silliness on Twitter and turned into fic, so this story is dedicated to her.  
> Many thanks to Riv for the beta and helping this story be much, much better than it otherwise would have been.

The battle had felt long, but James couldn't help but notice that his son had stolen a kiss with Shelby once it was over. From what James heard, it was well past time that they'd gotten together. They got back to the base, and Shelby and Kendall busied themselves with readings. Koda disappeared. Riley had dashed back to finish his shift at the cafe. Chase... was probably on the phone with his girlfriend.

James grinned at Tyler, lowering his voice so as to not be overheard. "Shelby sure is something, huh?"

"Yes?" Tyler asked, frowning and wrinkling his nose.

James slung an arm around Tyler's shoulders. "How long have you two been dating?"

"About a month?" Tyler's eyes narrowed. "What's this about?"

"Well, you see son, when a man and a woman really love each other and they want to have a baby..." 

Tyler jerked away, shoving James's arm off of his shoulders. "Mom and I already had this discussion, Dad. Ages ago." He stalked across the room to the central lab benches and grabbed Shelby's hand. "You want to go get some coffee?"

Kendall winked at Shelby, nodding.

"Sure," Shelby said, frowning. She followed Tyler towards the exit.

"You know to use condoms, right?" James called after them.

"Ugh, Dad! Stop!"

Tyler and Shelby nearly dashed out of the room.

James rubbed the back of his head.

Koda, who had retreated to his sleeping area, emerged and looked at James quizzically. "Um, excuse me, James, but what condoms?"

James glanced at Kendall.

Kendall squeezed his shoulder. "First of all, you started it. Second of all, since you missed your chance with Tyler, I'd hate to deprive you of this opportunity." She practically ran out of the base.

James felt his cheeks grow hot as he turned to Koda. "How much of that do I need to explain?"

"You wanted to explain to Tyler about..." Koda paused. "I think word is 'sex'? You worried he and Shelby make baby."

"Yes, right," James said. "OK. So, a condom is a long sheath of stretchy material, usually latex..."

"Like balloon?" Koda said.

"Sort of like a balloon, it goes over your penis when you have sex."

"What penis?"

"Genitals? Boy part? That you insert into the woman's vagina to have sex?"

"Oh." Koda winced. "Ouch."

"They're bigger than a balloon."

"What they for?"

"To prevent pregnancy."

Koda blinked.

"It keeps you from making a baby."

"Oh!" Koda said. He scrunched up his face. "How that work? Baby fit in balloon?"

"Cavemen believed in homunculi? Interesting."

"Hum-un..." Koda started, tripping over the word.

James shook his head to clear it. "No there's... does Kendall have paper around here?" he started to look around the room.

"I have," Koda said. He went back into the cave and returned carrying a pad of paper. "Ran out of room on walls."

"OK, so do you um..."

"Baby come out from penis when have sex, grow in woman. If catch in condom, baby..."

James absently wondered if he dared ask Koda about masturbation.

"Not grow, like when spill seed on floor because lonely?"

Oh, well, that answered that question.

"No, there's no baby. So when you ejaculate--spill seed--that's not a baby. It's a sperm." He took the pad from Koda. "They look like this, but very tiny." He drew the period with a tail on it cartoon of a sperm that every tween saw in a text book.

"See in microscope? Like when Shelby and Kendall make Dino Chargers?"

"Yes." James drew a circle. "They can swim, and they go into the woman, where they meet the egg." He drew a sperm resting on the edge of the egg. "One sperm enters the egg, and that becomes a single cell. Then that cell divides a lot, and becomes a new human being."

"How one circle become person?" Koda asked. "We not circle."

"No, lots of circles." James drew more cells on the pad. "Eventually enough to make up a whole person." 

Koda frowned, looking at his hand. "No. We not made up of little circles."

"Do you know where Kendall keeps the microscope slides?" James asked.

"Yes."

"Show me where that is, and I can show you."

Koda tilted his head, giving James the side eye.

James suppressed a sigh. "Would I lie to you Koda?"

"You lie to Tyler for years." Koda crossed his arms. "He think you missing. You just hiding."

James flinched, but decided that Koda was probably not the person he needed to have that discussion with. "Get out the slides and a cotton swab would you?"

Koda narrowed his eyes, but did as he asked.

James ripped open the back end of the sterile swab and then offered the stick to Koda. "Rub this on the inside of your cheek."

Koda frowned, but did as he was asked. 

While he was doing that, James put a drop of water on a clean microscope slide.

Koda then passed James the swab.

James rubbed the cotton end in the drop of water, then gently placed a cover slip over it. He put the slide on the microscope, then adjusted the eyepiece. "Here, look."

Koda looked in the eyepiece, frowning. He reached for the fine adjustment. James winced, but Koda just moved it a little, focusing it for his own eyes. James was embarrassed, Koda must have learned how to use the scope at some point.

"Wow. Little circles in the little circles."

"Those are nuclei. They contain DNA."

"That what Shelby and Zenowing use to make zords."

"Yes, DNA are the instructions that tell the little circle how to make a whole organism--whether that's a dinosaur, a plant, or a person."

"Which part have DNA?" Koda tapped James's drawing of eggs and sperm.

"Both. Each has one copy of the instructions, we all carry two copies around."

"Why?"

"That's a fundamental question, but mostly it allows us to have one good copy if one copy is bad. It also causes us to all look different--variations cause different eye colors and skin colors and..."

"Oh. So Tyler and Koda have genes that make skin darker, Chase and Kendall not?"

"Close enough," James said.

"Weird," Koda said.

"Isn't it cool?" James asked.

"That too." Koda paused. "Thank you."

"Anytime," James said.

He just hoped someone else got to explain to Koda about the pill.

It was then he looked up to see Chase, who was studying Koda with a wrinkled brow.

"How long have you been standing there?" James asked.

"Awhile," Chase said, walking up to them. "Koda, if you didn't understand about condoms and reproduction when Kendall and I explained it shortly after you woke up, why didn't you say something?"

"Did understand," Koda replied.

James stared at him. "So why did you ask me about it?"

"You make Tyler sad." Koda glared back. "Keep leaving."

"I had to..."

"No. You _want_ to. Not same," Koda said. "Chase want Bronto burger?"

"Sure, buddy, let's go," Chase said, leading Koda out of the base.

James rubbed the back of his neck. He'd... probably deserved that.

End


End file.
